Pink Concerto
by Impromptu Vivace
Summary: Down the rabbit hole and through the ...RTC portal?


_**Chapter One**_

_Through the ...RTC Portal?  
_

Roxas

"Roxas, we have a new mission for you," Saix tells me, brushing past me in the main lounge of The Castle That Never Was. "We need you to go to Wonderland and take out a band of Pink Concertos."

I chuckle. "Shouldn't you have Marluxia take care of them?" I joke, referring to the Nobody's obsession with the colour pink.

"Very funny," Saix responds dryly, forcing a laugh. "Finish your preparations and head out."

Sighing, I head over to the Moogle and stock a few more Potions with me. I hate going on missions alone, because nobody is there to heal me. No, I have to cast the dumb spells myself, or drink nasty potions.

"Hey," I hear behind me as I thank the Moogle for his wares. "You goin' to Wonderland?"

Facing Axel, my best friend, I nod. "Yeah, why? Wanna tag along?"

_Please, please say yes... An insane queen and a talking rabbit only brings so much excitement..._ I plead inwardly, hoping I'm not wearing my thoughts on my sleeve again.

"I'll go and keep you company. Wonderland isn't the most exciting place in the world, no matter how many insane beings reside there."

_Damn... He reads me like a book._ "Cool, let's go make sure it's okay with Saix."

"It'll be fine. I, unlike some lazy bums who sleep until noon, got my mission done early."

I have to scoff, "_You_ got up early? Really?"

He laughs also, "No, actually. Saix woke me up at, like, six in the morning to make me fight this stupid Heartless. The damn thing broke my chakrams, so the Moogle had to run in a new shipment when I got back."

Approaching Saix, Axel and I put on our best "please?" faces and he rolls his eyes. "Whatever, but don't screw off. I know you too well..."

I raise an eyebrow and pretend to be offended. "_Us?_ Screw off? Why _ever_ would we want to do that?"

"Go, the Concertos are menacing that awful queen of theirs," Saix bites, holding back a chuckle.

"You realise that we know you think we're funny, right?" Axel teases, opening a portal to leave the bland white room.

With a final glaring look from Saix, we leave for Wonderland, arriving only seconds later at the bottom of the Rabbit Hole. "Let's take care of these sons of bitches," I say, wanting to get this job over with. I don't really fancy these missions--going to worlds only to kill something and leave.

We head through the cramped hallway into the Upside Down Room, and drink some of the gross shrinking potion. "Mm, tastes like cherry tarts," Axel says, licking his lips.

"Bleh, I hate cherries," I whine as a Blizzard Plant pops out of the ground. "Well, here we go again..."

After fighting a few more Plants, and a couple Grey Caprices, we enter the maze. "What was that?" I say, catching movement out of the corner of my eye.

"What? Heartless don't come in the maze, stupid."

"I saw something, though. It was blue and yellow-ish."

He knocks on my forehead with his fist a couple times. "Stop worrying, Rox. You're driving yourself nuts. There's nothing there."

"What if one sneaked in?"

"Then we'll kill it. Obviously whatever you imagined didn't want to hurt us."

I sigh and glance around nervously. Last time something came up on me, I was in bed for a week.

Finally we find a Pink Concerto in the throne area, mulling about the throne. The queen isn't here, luckily... She's so obnoxious. The big pink Heartless sees Axel and I, immediately firing up it's magic. I leap about four feet in the air when a lightening bolt hits me, and growl. Jumping up, I whack it aside with my Keyblade, avoiding a burst of flame out of Axel.

"Watch it!" I shout over my shoulder. He only shrugs, grinning.

"Become flame tolerant," he says.

"Oh, lemme just run out and do that," I respond cynically.

The Concerto buzzes around me, occasionally whacking me with lightening. Getting extremely annoyed, I give it a final slash, killing it. The irritating being disappears, and I collect the money it leaves behind. "How many of these are there again?" Axel wonders, putting his chakrams away.

"Five, I think?"

"Ugh, let's hurry up, then."

Turning to the left, we check the garden.

"Lose something?"

Axel and I look at each other with irritation and turn to the purple cat hovering above us.

"Pink Concertos. You know where they are?" Axel asks pointedly.

"Perhaps."

"Just tell us," he growls, summoning his chakrams.

The Cheshire grins, fading away. "I can't help, but the flowers might..."

Once the annoying being is gone, we give each other "that look" and roll our eyes. But then, another movement out of my peripheral vision causes me to stop in my tracks. "Axel, I saw it again. It can't be a Heartless or it would've attacked by now."

"Oh, shut up, Rox. You're just scaring yourself."

We find the rest of the Concertos in the garden, hiding behind the flowers. On our way to RTC (Return To Castle), I see it again. But this time, Axel stops too. "Dude, what the hell was that?" he asks, turning in a circle suspiciously.

"Thats what I keep seeing, asshole. C'mon, let's find it."

He shakes his head. "No way, man. I'm RTC-ing before something goes wrong."

"Well I-"

"Curiouser and curiouser... These men don't look mad... So why are they here ...?"

Axel and I turn around slowly to face a blonde teenage girl, emerging from behind the Queen's throne. "...Hello..." I say, stepping forward. It's almost like I've seen her before.

"You're not working for the Queen, are you?"

I shake my head. "No, we're not from here. What's your name?"

Axel grabs my arm. "We can't meddle with her, Rox. We can get in big trouble for this."

"I'm Alice. Where're you from? Did you come down the rabbit hole?"

I yank away from Axel, shooting him a glare. "Rabbit hole? No, we didn't. Oh, I'm Roxas, and this is Axel, by the way."

Suddenly we hear shouts in the distance and Alice jumps. "Oh, you must help me, please! The Queen wants me executed! She's been after me for years! I only came back to the throne area because the flowers told me there were men in black killing those ..._things_ that keep popping up! But one of the guards must've seen me and told her!"

"Axel, we have to help her," I tell him, but when I look over, he's already RTC-ed. I take her hand and pull her through the portal without a second guess. "You'll be safe here," I tell her, rushing her into my room.

Axel

I'm gone before I can get pulled into any part of this. I don't know if I can handle Roxas dragging a little blonde girl all over the Castle.

"Axel?" Xion, my best girl friend, asks when I almost plow her over in the hall. "What's going on?"

I actually don't know why I'm running; it's not like he's gonna chase me.

"AXEL!"

Or maybe he will?

"Um, it's hard to explain, but don't talk to Roxas. And don't tell him where I am," I say quickly, ducking into Demyx's room.

"Axel?" the musician questions, looking up from his Sitar.

I shush him and listen for Roxas.

"Xion?" I hear him ask her. "Have you seen Axe?"

I can feel the awkward energy bursting through the door. "Um, no, I just got back. Who's she?"

"I'll tell you if you lend me one of your robes. Mine all drown her."

_Oh course it does, you idiot! You're a ridiculously hot nineteen year old and she's a scrawny child!_ I think, cursing myself immediately for feeling that way.

Oh, yeah, did I mention that I'm in love with Roxas? I have been since we were thirteen, but I'll never tell him that. He's totally straight, and he'd never go for me. The only person who knows is Xion, and she's in love with him too. I suppose he's just that irresistable, the his two best friends fell in love with him.

"Yeah, come to my room," she tells him.

When their footsteps fade, I stick my head out into the boring white and black hall, making sure the coast is clear before I book it to my room. I slam the door and lock it, thankful for the familiar flame red walls and plushy green carpet. My room is so comfortable, ever since Xemnas allowed us to paint them however we want. We can even have computers and t.v. now, and video games! (Yes, I'm twenty one and love video games. Gotta problem?)

I sit down on my bed and sigh, wondering what Roxas has gotten himself into. I love him too much to leave him alone on this, but I can't get involved. Not after I lit the Castle on fire. ...Accidentally, of course. ...ish...


End file.
